Who reads a local newspaper?

tbptbp
edited May 2010 in Local discussion
Hi there, I wondered, how many of the people on here regularly read either the Islington Tribune or Islington Gazette?

I'm doing a Master's in Newspaper Journalism and am looking into the impact of local sites like this on the readership of local papers.

Does anyone who reads this forum think that it means there is no need to buy a local paper? Or are they complementary?

Comments

  • edited 7:22AM
    Hi there,

    I always buy the Islington Gazette or the local paper wherever I am living as you can't find local news anywhere else. You can get it on the online versions but it's not as good.

    Also, I like looking at the property section too, but its mainly for news.
  • edited 7:22AM
    Hi. I read the Hornsey Journal and its related papers, The Muswell Hill Journal and the Tottenham Journal online. I also sometimes read the Ham and High online because their Spurs related articles come up on newsnow.

    I hope you write your thesis about this incredible revelation.

    By the way, most of Stroud Green is in Haringey, not Islington. Maybe you could write a thesis about that too.
  • edited 7:22AM
    The Islington Gazette is a bit of a tawdry rag, badly written, and specialising in murders and knifings, to attract the masses - and me.

    The Islington Tribune, sibling paper to the Camden New Journal, is an excellent sheet, and free, to boot. It has a pinkish tinge, which suits this old armchair leftie, and an excellent Review section. Paul Foot's son Tom is one of the regulars, along with other familiar names from the past, like John Horder, Iltydd (sp?) Harrington, etc.

    As for this place, SG.org, I am addicted, even though it is often little more than gossip about shops and knitting, etc. News, when it arrives this way, often reaches us first, by word of mouth. Incidents, often semi-criminal, traffic news, shop closures, pass quickly from one SG.Orgiast to another, at lightning speed.

    Thus I was able to bring joy to the delightful Philistine's ears, long before any of us heard it on the radio, with news of the A & E victory. I expect we'll be the first too to hear it was all election guff, and that the Whittington as whole is due for the scrap heap, once the new government gets its feet under the table.Oh God.

    That do you, tbp? Good luck with the thesis. Mine was on Brahms's chamber music. 1966. What a nightmare. Never again.
  • edited 7:22AM
    I do quite like the freesheet; always at least scan the headline outside Tesco, sometimes pick one up. It helps that it's weekly,because very few local areas have enough to justify a daily paper. Hell, sometimes the country doesn't.
  • edited 7:22AM
    I always buy the Islington Gazette. I am especially addicted to the terrible advice given out by the resident agony aunt.
  • tbptbp
    edited 7:22AM
    Thanks very much everyone. Not actually for a thesis, but my <a href=" blog http://abhp172.portfolios.cutlines.org">blog</a>.

    Slabber, yes, remiss of me not to mention the Haringey, Hornsey papers too ... I live on the western extreme of Stroud Green, so am rather more Islington focused than many Stroud Greeners probably are.

    Keep the comments coming.

    Thanks

    Tom
  • edited May 2010
    I find this site much more useful than local newspapers. Because you get a reaction from some of the businesses / organisations discussed and can react to them. Take a look at the sugar lounge door policy post or the zebra crossing thread or the book club thread. It's not just about discussing things that happen, things actually happen because we've discussed it. I guess that's also the case when a story is published, because there might suddenly be publicity given to an issue and I guess that can be very powerful, but here it feels much more direct and personal and immediate. Good luck with your MA :)
  • edited 7:22AM
    I find the site to be much better than local papers too. It's great for (mainly) unbiased reviews and social stuff as well as local issues.

    I have tried the local newspapers but prefer the forum as several people on here are very well informed and keep all of us abreast of the important goings on in a more engaging way than the newspapers can manage. I'm in the Wild West too, so always interested to see what's happening in Islington.

    Good luck with it all.
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